The Daily Yonder

On a hot morning in late August of 2026, 18-year-old Kenzie Garcia climbed into a metal chute containing a steer, or castrated bull. She was nervous but determined to improve her skills as a chute dogger, or steer wrestler, one of the rough stock events common to pro and amateur rodeos. And she was getting plenty of advice. “Remember, you’ve got to keep your feet,” explained one rodeo veteran.

For Michael Sayen, visiting the local library after hours is a great way to get work done, or seek respite from the weather, regardless of what day it is. “We just had Labor Day, the library is closed all day. But if you have extended hours, you can come in and do the work, or cool down from a hot day or whatever you need to do,” Sayen said the day after Labor Day while working on a novel at the Wyoming, Minnesota branch of the East Central Regional Library (ECRL) in Chisago County.

Telehealth use has been consistently lower since 2020 in rural areas compared to non-rural areas, according to the report, from Elevance Health Public Policy Foundation — an American health benefits and insurance company, formerly known as Anthem, Inc.

Every week, Yonder Radio brings rural conversations with national reach to listeners around the country. We’re starting out in central Texas with a conversation between Daily Yonder health reporter Madeline de Figueiredo and Bastrop County Cares executive director Norma Mercado. We are also checking in with our pop culture crew this week.

Editor’s Note: This interview first appeared in Path Finders, an email newsletter from the Daily Yonder. Each week, Path Finders features a Q&A with a rural thinker, creator, or doer. Like what you see here? Join the mailing list and receive more conversations like this in your inbox. Emma Treu rode her first bull three years ago. Now, she’s one of the leading female bull riders on the gay rodeo circuit, where men and women compete equally in all events.

Every two years, every seat in the U.S. House of Representatives is up for re-election. That’s right: It’s a limited term job, albeit one with enviable benefits. Candidates sometimes forget who’s on the selection committee for that employment. Incumbents sometimes forget who conducts the performance reviews that determine whether their employment is extended. Who decides? It isn’t the party or the pundits or the donors. It’s us, the voters.

From March to May of 2006, millions of people took to the streets across the nation in protest of proposed changes to immigration policy, including making it a felony to be in the U.S. without legal immigration status. On May 1, International Workers’ Day, some 30,000 people turned out in Orlando for what was called “A Day Without Immigrants.” Yesica Ramirez was among them. She had volunteered to pick up garbage along the route of the march. A vocation for activism was born.

On a warm spring day in mid-April 2026, Heather McFarland was casting small vessels topped with solar panels out into a reservoir in Mattoon, Illinois, a small town south of Springfield. These yellow buoys that McFarland was sending out to their “summer home” on the reservoir are called Solarafts. They kill cyanobacteria through ultrasonic waves, keeping bacteria in the reservoir, also known as blue-green algae, from becoming toxic to humans and animals.

When the “One Big Beautiful Bill” passed in July 2025, officials warned some of the cuts within the bill could devastate rural hospitals. Those cuts are set to hit after the midterm election this fall, and some members of Congress are working to offset them. A total of about $1.3 trillion is set to be cut from Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act marketplaces, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, according to the Commonwealth Fund.

“Ten states. 10,825 miles. 123 theaters. An elegy for small-town cinemas.” This is the tagline for Rustin Thompson’s feature-length documentary, “The Last Picture Shows.” Thompson served as the director, writer, producer, cinematographer, and editor of this love letter to movie theaters that journeys into the American West. The film visits rural theaters that have closed their doors, those fighting to stay open, and a few that are thriving.